Putting something called "Natural Engineering" to work in a
five-year research project, Newcastle University in cooperation with the
Environment Agency are discovering the benefits utilizing the land’s natural
defenses to slow river flow downstream and prevent flooding. Slowing down water in anticipation of flooding events is
being tested all over the world. Strategies include use of retention basins;
wetlands development; levee systems and flood-walls but Newcastle University
researchers directed by Dr. Mark Wilkinson are employing additional water retention
strategies further up the catchment system. The Belford Burn is a small
catchment system located in Northumberland, a community just south of the Scottish
border. It traverses through a town called Belford flooding it regularly.

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To slow flooding waters, the team changed the natural flow
pathways of the small catchment system to hinder its natural flow, manage the
land's run-off and reduce flooding risks in low-lying areas. The changes also
controlled some pollution by preventing phosphorous and nitrates from being
washed off the land.

According to Wilkinson, "What we have shown at
Belford is that by employing so-called 'soft engineering solutions' to restrict
the progress of water through a catchment — disconnecting fast-flow pathways
and adding storage — we have been able to reduce the risk of flooding in the
lower areas and, most importantly, in the town.

"Belford is not unique and there are many other areas around
the UK where these solutions could make a significant impact and potentially
protect peoples' homes from some of the more severe flooding we are seeing at
the moment."

The UK's Natural Flood Management program aims to
reduce downstream maximum water height of a flood or peak by delaying
the arrival of flooding waters downstream thus increasing preparation time downstream or natural absorbtion.

These more sustainable delay tactics include
restricting the progress of water through a catchment by relying any one of the
following environmental mechanisms or any combination thereof:

-Holding and storing water in ponds, ditches
and field attenuation bund or embankment.

-Increasing soil infiltration through the
creation of 'infiltration zones' to help water get into the soil at certain
locations, such as tree belts.

-Slowing water by increasing resistance to its
flow, such as planting within the floodplain or planting a riverside woodland.

-Redirecting water by channeling it away from the
main flow into temporary water storage areas or buffer zones thus holding waters back until the flood peak drops. This
increases the length of the river decreasing its slope, and slowing down its flow.